WHILE WE MIGHT SYMPATHIZE with property owners who feel they're being kept in the dark about planned developments, we are having some difficulty with the wild speculation surrounding the proposal to restore the rail line north from Orangeville.

We wouldn't wish to drag personalities into the equation but two of the most glaring examples of impossibility are a suggestion that an entire 5,000-acre tract would be converted into a giant quarry, and another that there would be two trains each hour - both of which would be 40 freight cars in length.

We have no doubt that there shall one day by aggregate extraction on some part of the 5,000 acres purchased by the interests now known as Highland Group, whether this would be by Highland or a successor.

In our opinion, the Aggregate Resources Act along with a succession of Ontario Municipal Board rulings would ensure that will happen. But then there is what might be the offsetting provisions of the Provincial Policy Statement on farmland.

Similarly, speculation and allegations with respect to the rail line would appear to be grossly wrong. It would be impossible to run two trains an hour on the single track between Owen Sound and Streetsville, or even between Streetsville and Melancthon - even if that would be one each way.

This is not rocket science. Consider the distance, the speed, and what has to happen at each end of the run. There is an allegation that the line would be used for "Toronto garbage up, gravel down," and that the trains would not serve local shippers.

In truth, there is no host along the line for Toronto garbage.

More importantly, the sales agreement between Orangeville and Highland specifies that the municipality make every effort to attract more rail shippers to ensure that the line is profitable.

We would urge those opposing the rail line to review not only the sales agreement but the municipal and public opposition to abandonment of the rail service more than a decade ago.